Around 50 students led by the University of Kentucky’s Feminist Alliance made their voices heard on the subject of sexual assault Friday – calling on the school to release records pertaining to a campus sexual assault case and publicly condemn Republican President-elect Donald Trump's attitudes toward women.
Hoisting signs and banners reading “Capilouto Not My President” and “Protect Your Students, Not Your Reputation,” the demonstrators looped around central campus, stopping just outside the president’s house to share personal stories of sexual harassment and assault with supporters and onlookers.
With tensions over the university’s decision to fight a student newspaper open records request already simmering, protester Maria Obregon said Tuesday’s election results are bringing them to a boil.
"We think that covering it up, especially in a time like now, is completely the wrong thing to do and to say that they are protecting the victims is the most outrageous thing ever when the victims have... actually said that they want the records released," she says.
Meanwhile, UK administrators argue releasing the documents sets a worrying precedent that would allow anyone – not just members of the media – to make other cases public.
Applauding the students for exercising their free speech rights, UK spokesman Jay Blanton told WUKY "That's a major part of who and what we are as an institution of higher learning, but at the same time I think the university would maintain that truly honoring free expression, truly honoring the values of transparency in this issue is ensuring that the victim survivor is allowed to choose whether, how, and when to tell his or her story."
While the dispute between the university and student paper The Kentucky Kernel is being hashed out in court, the protesters say they’re going to keep the pressure on back on campus.
